FrontPage Stories

Activists Hold Graduation in Vista’s Townsite Barrio

By Mark R. Day

There was no pompous music at this graduation ceremony. No caps and gowns. Even the lighting in the backyard barrio home was a bit dodgy and improvised. But the faces of the graduates beamed with pride and accomplishment. Out of 33 who started, eleven persevered and got their certificates.

The course they passed was on human rights, put together by Tina Garcia Jillings and husband and wife team Ricardo Favela and Ysenia Balcazar of the Coalition for Peace, Justice and Dignity based in Vista.

Flor Carreon accepts her diploma from Silvia Ramos of the Coalition for Peace, Justice and Dignity.

What led up to the five week workshop was a raid in the Townsite area of Vista was a raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) on June 21. The military style operation, which began at 6 a.m. at a Citrus Street home, left four children traumatized and their neighbors stunned and in a state of shock.

During a neighborhood meeting a few days later, Townsite residents called upon the coalition to prepare them for further raids and what they considered malpractices by both immigration agents and Vista sheriff’s deputies.

The coalition owes its own origin to a series of police shootings in Vista that a left three young unarmed Latinos dead in July and August of 2005.

Community members were wondering what to do to protect their own young people who are increasingly being criminalized by unsympathetic city officials and heavy handed law enforcement officers.

Elvira Arellano was a symbol for many undocumented immigrants. After more than a year taking shelter in a Methodist churuch in Chicago she was arrested this week after leaving an LA church and was deported to Tijuana, Mexico. This past February La Prensa San Diego published a story on her plight. You can read that story via this link: Elviar Arellano.
On Friday we publish a follow up story from Tijuana.She sought shelter in a church and lived there for a year until she left with her son for LA where she was arrested and deported.

Clergyman to Stand Trial for “Dirty War” Crimes in ArgentinaBy Marie TrigonaA much awaited human rights abuse trial is underway in Argentina. The accused is a Catholic priest charged with carrying out human rights abuses while working in several clandestine detention centers during the nation’s 1976-1983 military dictatorship. The priest was arrested four years ago while living under an alias in Chile. This is the latest human rights trial of accused torturers since the landmark conviction of a former police officer for genocide in 2006.

Government funds Tijuana toxic site final cleanupTijuana, Mexico  Environmental Health Coalition (EHC) and its Tijuana affiliate, the Colectivo Chilpancingo Pro Justicia Ambiental, celebrated today formal delivery of funding for the final cleanup of the Metales y Derivados abandoned lead smelter. Secretary Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada, head of SEMARNAT, Mexico’s equivalent of the EPA, signed the document turning over federal funds to the state of Baja California in a ceremony this morning at Tijuana’s State Government Headquarters.

Democrats Call on Government to Increase Minority Advertising ContractsWashington, DC  Leading Senate and House Democrats urged federal agencies to take an active role in increasing the amount of federal advertising contracts awarded to disadvantaged and minority-owned businesses. Their action comes in response to a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that found that federal agencies are falling short of the standards set by an executive order issued in 2000 calling on the government to “aggressively” reach out to minority and underserved firms.

This Shot At Immigrants Will Hit Us All In The FootWashington, DC  Earlier this year, an effort by Congress to fix our broken immigration system was thwarted when a Republican-led filibuster killed a bi-partisan comprehensive immigration reform proposal in the Senate. This may have been the best chance in years to fix our dysfunctional immigration system but, in the end, just 12 Republicans voted to allow the Senate to continue considering this issue, with the majority of Republicans and a minority of Democrats choosing to kill it. By its announcement today, the administration has now embraced the full weight of an enforcement-only strategy. It will fail as an immigration policywith disastrous economic, security, and civil rights consequences.

Vaccinations an important part of back to school preparation
It important to vaccinate your children by age 2
All children need to be immunized against dangerous diseases such as measles, whooping cough, and bacterial meningitis before they are two years old. This week is National Infant Immunization Week, a good reminder to call your healthcare provider and immunize your child. For more information, call toll free 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636)

Editorial and Commentary

Editorial:Hispanic students continue to failThe results from the California Standards Tests were announced this week and to no one’s surprise was the continued achievement gap between Hispanics and blacks, and the White and Asian students. 62% of the White and 66% of the Asian student populations are testing at proficient or better in English/Language Arts. For Hispanics and blacks they are FAILING at a 70% or better clip. Only 29% of Hispanic students are achieving success. In math it is pretty much the same story.

Commentary:The Barriers to Health Care in California That Need to be AddressedBy Anthony WrightWith all this talk of “individual responsibility” and mandates in health care reform, it’s sometimes easy to forget that people actually want health coverage. Desperately. If they don’t have insurance, they are the ones who face the consequences, which are to live sicker, die younger, and be one emergency away from financial ruin.

Commentary:Winning Is Losingby Sheldon RichmanIt’s amazing what passes for news these days. Two Brookings Institution “liberals” who favored the invasion of Iraq before it occurred and have since led the war-cheerleading section are now getting attention for writing on the New York Times op-ed page that if the Bush administration stays the course, this is “A War We Might Just Win.”

First PersonChicanos Captive in CubiclesBy Al Carlos HernandezI think I may have found the key to vocational happiness, lower your goals so they are easier to attain, hang on to what you got until you get what you want, stop all that sniveling, at least you get a steady paycheck and everyone is smarter than their boss.

¡ASK A MEXICAN!By Gustavo ArellanoDear Mexican: I had a heated discussion in my van pool with a couple of gringos where they made a comment that immigration (both legal and illegal) needs to stop. I replied jokingly, “Then who will take our orders at McDonald’s or work in the fields?” They had the nerve to tell me there are several Americans willing to work those jobs, especially in the fields. I laughed. Wasn’t there a study a couple of years ago where they sent Americans who were collecting unemployment to pick strawberries, and they all quit within a week? I would love to send them that article.
Pocha from the Central California Coast

Sweetwater Summer Institute says “Bye-Bye Birdie”
It’s the 1950’s and Conrad Birdie, an Elvis-like rock star, is about to be inducted into the Army. His publicist can’t resist a great publicity stunt: a contest for an all-American girl to give Birdie one last kiss before heading off to war.

Community Events . . .Meet Behind the WavesA binational surfing and body surfing eventSat Aug 18th 10am
An opportunity to surf, picnic on the beach, and meet and come together with friends from both sides of the border